It Was Easy To Get Hooked On Megabucks

LAKE SPORTS

December 20, 1989|By Jeff Babineau of The Sentinel Staff

The Lake County sports scene is losing its calling card.

A year ago, if somebody had told me Lake County would be without the B.A.S.S. MegaBucks bass tournament, it probably would have pleased me. As the newest addition to The Lake Sentinel's sports staff, I figured to be the one who had to venture to Venetian Gardens in Leesburg for six consecutive cool February days to land a story, and that was an endeavor I didn't greet with a whole lot of enthusiasm.

After all, there were basketball games going on all over the county. District tournaments were about to begin. You know, warm gyms, fierce rivalries, one-point games. Did I mention warm gyms?

And just how does one go about covering a fishing tournament, anyway?

Well, slowly we found out. The trick is to sneak around the weigh-in area, look for an angler who was bringing in a big catch, and catch him after Bass Anglers Sportsman Society founder and MegaBucks event announcer Ray Scott was done giving him a humorous once-over atop the weigh-in stand.

It didn't take long to find out these anglers were a pretty nice bunch of guys. They patiently signed autographs. They joked, and they laughed, and without fail went out of their collective way to speak with the members of the crowd gathered around the weigh-in.

The crowds grew each day, until finally, there were some 6,000 spectators gathered on the tournament's final day. Basketball tournament? You go cover it. I'm late for today's weigh-in.

Heck, a guy from Fruitland Park, a somewhat average Joe by the name of Jim Bitter, even captured the tournament, adding a bright chapter to what had been a tale of frustration for him in previous MegaBucks tournaments. He had missed making the 10-man finals by 6 ounces one year, and finished 12th another year. Bitter pocketed about $70,000 in cash for his efforts, and made the short drive home in a new truck that toted a new $20,000 boat behind it.

What a script.

Hey, this fishing was all right.

Now, we have learned that following MegaBucks V in February, B.A.S.S. will not be returning to Leesburg - at least not anytime soon.

B.A.S.S. tournament director Dewey Kendrick wants to assure everybody in the community that his organization isn't dissatisfied with Leesburg in any way. He says it simply is the right time to move on.

It probably was time to move on. Bass tournaments long have had a penchant for changing scenery, to introducing new tournament sites on new lakes. Many anglers were surprised to see MegaBucks stay in Leesburg as long as it has.

That doesn't diminish the sadness of the loss. The MegaBucks tournament will be missed dearly by the community - as well as many of the anglers.

''I fish in some other tournaments around the state, but this was a chance to fish alongside some pretty noted fishermen,'' said Fruitland Park's Davis Bradberry, who has paid the $2,000 entry to be a MegaBucks competitor the past two years.

''I'm going to hate to see the tournament leave. It's the only B.A.S.S. tournament I participate in, and if it was in Texas or someplace like that, I wouldn't participate. It brought a lot of people here each year, and it brought a tremendous amount of money into the community.''

One of the fondest memories many of the spectators will cherish was last year's inaugural Mini Bucks tournament for youngsters, complete with drive-through weigh-in.

Last February, contestant Autumn Isom, holding aloft a 6-ounce catch, proudly proclaimed to the gathered crowd that she had caught a shark.

The crowd erupted in a wave of laughter.

''Why, what kind of bait were you using?'' Scott asked, playing along.

''A bass,'' she answered.

The scene was priceless.

Local anglers and business people weren't the only ones saddened to hear the news that MegaBucks will be leaving Leesburg after February.

''Personally, I was devastated by the news,'' said Gainesville's Shaw Grigsby, Jr., a noted angler on the B.A.S.S. tournament trail who twice in the tourney's four-year history finished second.

''The MegaBucks tournament was doing a lot for the Leesburg community, it was getting kids involved, and it was doing so much for B.A.S.S. as well,'' Grigsby said. ''The tournament was giving notoriety to the state of Florida and the Harris Chain. I was hoping that this would be one tournament that would be held yearly at one place, and could last forever.

''I hope that this is a very temporary thing. I'm really disappointed.''